State Attorney Clears Butler, Hartage

A Lobbyist Had Alleged That The Two Were Involved In A Bribery Scheme Relating To A County Catering Contract.

January 20, 1999|By Kevin Spear of The Sentinel Staff

The state attorney has cleared a former and a current Orange County commissioner alleged to have been part of a bribery scheme in the awarding of a lucrative catering contract for the county convention center.

State Attorney Lawson Lamar began a probe in August, investigating allegations related to a June 16 vote cast by Commissioner Mable Butler, who has since retired.

A lobbyist had claimed that Homer Hartage, then a candidate for Butler's seat, essentially sold her vote.

Her tie-breaking vote gave a $15 million-a-year contract to a company for dining services at the Orange County Convention Center.

``Any interested party having attending the June 16th Commissioner meeting ... might have suspected a bit of chicanery,'' states the report.

``However ... there is no evidence that any type of deal was brokered,'' it concludes.

The report also states that from many documents, interviews and statements made under oath there is no evidence of an ethics violation.

The claims were made two months after the catering vote. Michael O'Quinn, a lobbyist for one of the losing companies, Aramark Corp., spoke to the county attorney in a private meeting and to county commissioners in a public meeting. He suggested Butler had two motives when she voted for Levy Restaurants of Chicago.

O'Quinn, according to the report, suggested Butler voted for Levy after it agreed to take a friend of hers as a partner.

O'Quinn also suggested that Butler decided to vote for Levy after her chosen successor, Hartage, struck a deal with the company to deliver her vote for $95,000. Butler and Hartage denied the claims.

Further, O'Quinn claimed that he and several executives of Aramark Corp. already had turned down an offer from Hartage to broker a winning vote.

Those discussions allegedly came during a midday break after commissioners had cast a 3-3 vote on whether to hire Aramark or Levy. Butler, the seventh vote, backed longtime convention center caterer Fine Host Corp. In a dramatic afternoon vote, she gave Levy the support it needed to win the contract.

The investigation report was received by the county attorney's office Tuesday, but it won't be publicly released until today.

``I agree with conclusions - cased closed,'' Lamar wrote at the end of the report.

Lamar said he would not comment until today about the investigation.

Butler said Tuesday that she had asked Orange County Attorney Tom Wilkes in August to pass O'Quinn's allegations to the state attorney.

``They couldn't do anything else but clear me,'' she said Tuesday. ``I won't be intimidated by Michael O'Quinn or any of his damn friends.''

Hartage, who won election as Butler's successor in November, could not be reached for comment. He was en route home Tuesday evening with a group of county officials who studied commuter railroads of West Coast cities.

O'Quinn could not be reached Tuesday for comment.

Commissioner Bob Freeman, a friend and political ally of O'Quinn's, said Tuesday that he had expected Lamar to find an ethics violation stemming from Hartage's lobbying while a candidate.

``I can't believe somewhere along the line as a candidate you can do that,'' said Freeman, who had not seen the investigation report.

The report includes a denial of wrongdoing by Levy. It also states that Aramark officials contradicted their lobbyist, O'Quinn. Company executives said they made the first move, trying to get Hartage to join them as a lobbyist in an effort to win Butler's vote.

A senior vice president for Aramark, Don Saleski, said his company initially had sought to hire Hartage, then a marketing executive, for a fee and for a promise to hire Butler's friend. Hartage did not accept the offer.

Butler's friend, Tyrone Nabbie, had long worked at the convention center as a Fine Host manager. Nabbie, who is black, stood to boost any caterer's inclusion of minorities - something Butler has routinely championed.

Levy chief executive Larry Levy states in the report that he offered Nabbie the job long after his company won the contract.